ARCHIVED January 1, 1998 12:00:00 am

Snelling launches Fort Collins office

By Helen Taylor

Helen Taylor

Business Report Staff Writer
FORT COLLINS — Northern Colorado˜s already-competitive temporary-employment industry just got a little more crowded.
Snelling Personnel Services was opened last month by former Norlarco Credit Union CEO Ray Swanson.
After 23 years managing credit unions, Swanson launched his own franchise of the Dallas-based personnel firm. The office is located in the First State Bank Building at 2900 S. College Ave., where Swanson and a small staff will focus primarily on office and light-industrial positions.
Swanson˜s decision to open his own business came after months of research, he said.
"For the last 10 years, I˜ve been fantasizing about running my own business. I was emotionally attached to the progress of the credit union, as if it were my own, but I wanted to transfer the business sense I˜ve developed and reap the rewards of running my own endeavor," he said.
Swanson read how well personnel agencies were doing nationally and about a year ago, began to research the industry in earnest. He came across Snelling last February and visited several of the company˜s franchise owners, all of whom were happy and doing well, he said.
Swanson said he went with Snelling because the company had the size and experience he was looking for. The company was founded in 1951 and has more than 300 offices around the country, 270 of which are franchises. Swanson was also impressed with how well franchise owners were doing, and two weeks˜ training at the company assured him that it was a good fit.
The company thought it was a good fit, too.
Snelling had its sights on Fort Collins because the area has such a high temporary-employee payroll, said Frank Knowles, from the franchise sales office at Snelling˜s corporate headquarters. Larimer County has a $27 million temporary-employee payroll, and that amount divided among the competing agencies in the region attracted Snelling to the area, Knowles said.
"Even if competition is high in an area, sometimes the payroll is high enough to warrant our coming in," he said.
As for Swanson, Knowles said the company couldn˜t be happier with its choice.
"We˜re in the people business, and Ray has great people skills as well as outstanding management and business skills," he said. "He was voted the No. 1 student in our training class of about 30."
The company will work closely with Swanson during his first year to help him get established amidst the competition.
The Fort Collins-Loveland phone book lists no fewer than 25 employment agencies (not including Swanson˜s, he just missed the deadline for a 1998 listing), but there seems to be plenty of business to go around.
Susan Butters, branch manager of Adecco Personnel Services in Fort Collins, said she was surprised to hear that another agency was opening in town, but the news didn˜t cause her concern.
"Fort Collins is large enough to support 14 agencies, and we˜re all able to make a good living," Butters said. "We all have our own areas of expertise and there˜s enough business that we actually help each other out.
"We˜re still competitors, but the business is not as cutthroat as it used to be," she added. "I wish them luck."Swanson is also confident room exists for his business.
"There are a lot of employment agencies in the area, but probably only five or six real competitors," he said. "I think we˜ll do well because we˜re out to be the best not the biggest.
"And if the business we˜ve had during our first month, over the Christmas holiday, is any indication, we˜ve made the right decision."